ITHACA, N.Y. - In his first dual from the head coach's seat, Mike Grey '11 and the Cornell wrestling program defeated Stanford, 30-9, on Saturday night. The Friedman Wrestling Center was buzzing all evening as fans came out in droves for the much anticipated return of long-time Cornell head coach, Rob Koll. The Big Red won eight of 10 total matches, including three with bonus points.

"The Friedman was as loud as I've ever heard it tonight," Grey said. "When Julian Ramirez won it was as loud as when Kyle Dake defeated Alex Krom back in 2009. The fans showed out and made it tough for Stanford. It was a raucous environment and that's how we like it. Our guys fought and won the fifty-fifty positions tonight. I attribute that to our training and our desire to send a message in this match."

Saturday marked the Friedman dual debuts of freshmen Greg Diakomihalis, Cole Handlovic and Julian Ramirez, as well as sophomores Colton Yapoujian, Chris Foca, Jacob Cardenas and Lewis Fernandes. Yapoujian appeared in a pair of duals for the Big Red during the 2019-20 season, but never wrestled under the lights in Friedman.

Greg Diakomihalis wrestled a tight match with Logan Ashton at 125 pounds in the first bout of the night. Both wrestlers traded escapes before Ashton scored the winning takedown in the third period.

Making his return to the Cornell lineup up a weight from where wrestling fans last saw him two seasons ago, sophomore Vito Arujau wasted no time firing off shot after shot against #32 Jackson DiSario. Arujau found a takedown a minute into the first period and never let up, taking down DiSario four times and reversing him twice over the course of the match in addition to having nearly four minutes of riding time.

Handlovic impressed at 141 pounds in his Big Red dual debut, defeating Jason Miranda by decision, 4-0. A lengthy scramble led to the first takedown for Handlovic and a big mat return helped him mount an early riding time advantage. Miranda put a hard ride on Handlovic's legs in the second period to erase the riding time, but a reversal at the end of the second gave Handlovic a 4-0 lead.

Junior Yianni Diakomihalis didn't disappoint in the most anticipated match-up of the night, defeating #8 Jaden Abas by a score of 3-1. Abas, an All-American at 149 pounds in 2021, got hit for stalling multiple times throughout the match as Diakomihalis was the primary aggressor throughout. An escape and a technical point for grabbing shoelaces gave Diakomihalis the advantage in the end.

Yapoujian used a late reversal in short time to defeat Charlie Darracott at 157 pounds, 4-3. A first period takedown gave Yapoujian a 2-0 cushion, but a pair of escapes by Darracott erased that lead heading into the third. Darracott put a tough ride on Yapoujian in the third, securing himself a riding time point, but Yapoujian's late reversal spoiled Darracott's upset attempt. Needing to ride out the final 15 seconds, Yapoujian was able to return Darracott to the mat.

In what will be one of the upsets of the year, freshman Julian Ramirez sent the Friedman Wrestling Center into a frenzy with a win over No. 1-ranked Shane Griffith at 165 pounds. As the defending NCAA Champion, Griffith entered Saturday with just one loss on his collegiate resume. Ramirez came out of the gates quick and scrambled for the early takedown. On bottom to start the second, Ramirez escaped and tried to throw Griffith who ended up off the edge of the mat. Griffith started the third on bottom and escaped to bring the score to 3-2 before the Stanford corner challenged a call of 'no takedown' near its corner. After review, the refs upheld the call on the mat, securing the upset for Ramirez.

"Ramirez is a big time performer," Grey said. "He has to continue to have the same performances week-in-and-week-out, but when the lights are on he's going to wrestle. We know he has the talent and we believe he can do those things."

Foca took an early 6-2 lead over #30 Tyler Eischens with a takedown, two near fall and a reversal. Eischens scored a reversal of his own and escaped twice to bring the score of 6-4 heading into the third where he put a tough ride on Foca. Foca defended well on bottom and didn't allow Eischens any chance at a turn, grinding out the 6-4 victory.

Junior Jonathan Loew continued his strong start to the season at 184 pounds, earning a fall in 1:37 against Colbey Harlan. Loew worked for it and eventually found the assassin that him and senior Ben Darmstadt have worked on in the room together.

Cardenas capped off a great night of wrestling with an 18-3 tech fall over #26 Nick Stemmet at 197 pounds. The Kearny, N.J. native didn't let up for a second in the bout, scoring four takedowns in the match and adding two sets of back points. Cardenas added an escape and 2:27 of riding time to earn his first dual win.

Stanford took the final bout of the evening by injury default.

Up Next: Cornell will wrestle at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 3-4 before heading to Florida for the Journeymen National Duals on Dec. 20.

Dual Summary - #12 Cornell 30, #23 Stanford 9
125: Logan Ashton dec. Greg Diakomihalis, 3-1
133: (#3 @ 125) Vito Arujau major dec. #32 Jackson DiSario, 14-3
141: Cole Handlovic dec. Jason Miranda, 4-0
149: #1 Yianni Diakomihalis dec. #8 Jaden Abas, 3-1
157: #25 Colton Yapoujian dec. Charlie Darracott, 4-3
165: Julian Ramirez dec. #1 Shane Griffith, 3-2
174: #9 Chris Foca dec. #30 Tyler Eischens, 6-4
184: #20 Jonathan Loew fall (1:37) Colbey Harlan
197: Jacob Cardenas tech fall #26 Nick Stemmet, 18-3
285: Peter Ming inj. def. #15 Lewis Fernandes